"The world is a pile of grunge."

"I had a very unusual contract. Most artists actually pay for their record dates and it comes out of their royalties. I paid for nothing."

"Songs suffer at the mercy of the performer."

"You knew after eight bars that you were hearing something just absolutely new and unique."

"There was never anything like it before in history. It was a different kind of joyous, happy screaming."

"I had four or five years in school training as a soprano. I fell into pop singing because of economics. I got out of high school and had to go work, and they weren't hiring opera singers."

"Songwriting is an art unto itself, not to be confused with performing."

"Whatever fame came did so not because I sought it."

"I've got a computer, but I won't go near it."

"I'll probably never put out another album because I'm a tough critic of my work, and I don't think I could come up to those standards any more."

"I just learned my lyrics and tried not to bump into the trumpet player. That was my philosophy."